QuadrigaCX Update: Exchange’s Legal Representatives Form Creditors Committee

Law firms Miller Thomson and Cox & Palmer have appointed a new committee to aid them in representing close to 115,000 customers of the now defunct Canadian cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX. This according to a court notice published March 19, 2019.

The Committee Will Represent the Users

The QuadrigaCX fiasco has once again highlighted the need for firm crypto regulations.

In the latest development, law firm Miller Thomson announced that it had constituted its Official Committee of Affected Users. The committee comprises of seven users of QuadrigaCX adversely impacted by the sudden demise of the exchange’s late CEO Gerald Cotten in December 2018. Notably, a total of 119 customers had applied to join the committee.

The newly created committee will help the law firm and QuadrigaCX’s court-appointed monitor Ernst & Young (EY) in representing the interests of all affected users in the court. It is estimated that a total of $136 million worth of cryptocurrencies are missing after it came to light that only Cotten had access to the exchange’s alleged cold wallet holdings.

As a result of this mishap, QuadrigaCX now owes over $198.4 million to more than 115,000 affected users.

The committee has been granted certain powers and authorities to help speed up the case’s investigation. It can reportedly “retain advisors, experts and consultants to provide advice to and to assist the Official Committee of Affected Users and Representative Council in the exercise of their duties in relation to the Purpose.”

The committee consists of people who have had prior experience in the crypto and government space. One of the committee members is Eric Bachour, a creditor of the infamous Mt. Gox cryptocurrency exchange. The court notice reads in part:

“Bachour is also a creditor of Mt. Gox in 2013, and has direct experience with arbitrage and market trading in cryptocurrency. Through the Mt. Gox process he gained exposure to the legal side of bankruptcy and insolvency.”

Another committee member Camila Gronowska has worked for the Government of Ontario in the past.

QuadrigaCX Story Continues to Unfold

The continually unfolding QuadrigaCX story has not been low on drama at all.

On March 20, 2019, reports emerged that Michael Patryn, the co-founder of the inoperative Canadian exchange has a criminal background and spent 18 months in a U.S. Federal prison for identity theft linked to credit card and bank fraud.